Allen Park
Teenager takes uncle’s pistol
A 24-year-old resident of the 15000 block of Champaign reported Tuesday that his 17-year-old nephew recently stole a loaded chrome revolver from him.
The resident said his nephew stayed with him Oct. 19, and that the gun had been placed inside a sport shooting bag in his bedroom closet Oct. 16 and 17. The resident discovered the gun missing after the nephew left.
The man said his nephew, a Monroe resident, has a troubled past and is believed to abuse narcotics, and that he is sure his nephew took the gun. He allowed his nephew to stay the night because he does not have many places to stay and does not attend school.
A records check showed the teen had escaped from custody and has had many contacts with law enforcement.
Landlord clips cable TV service
A resident in the 14600 block of Oceana told police his landlord and landlord’s wife illegally cut his cables about 1:30 p.m. Oct. 23.
The man said he was sitting in his living room about noon when the landlord unlocked the side door and let himself in. The landlord left bills for the man and went into the backyard, where the landlord’s wife was.
The man’s television then went dead. He looked out the front window and saw the landlord walking across his front lawn with looped pieces of black and white cable, as well as black wire sticking out of the landlord’s wife’s purse.
Officers checked the west side of the house and saw an AT&T box had been cut. On the south side of the house, a black and white WOW cable had been cut from the box and exits from the walls to the house.
Dearborn
Ex-con arrested with crack
A 45-year-old Detroit man was arrested for possession of crack cocaine and prescription narcotics about 5 a.m. Oct. 21 after he was pulled over for a routine traffic stop near the Paul Street bridge over the Southfield Freeway.
The man was pulled over because the 1992 Buick Riviera he was driving had an object dangling from the rearview mirror and no license plate lights, police said. When they went to talk to the man, the officer noticed he appeared to have something in his mouth and was mumbling, causing the officer to ask him to step out of the car.
A pat-down search turned up a pill bottle with seven Vicodins and one Valium, none of which the man was prescribed.
When the officer asked the suspect what was in his mouth, he repeatedly said, “nothing.” The officer, knowing that ingestion is a common technique for concealing narcotics, told the suspect to spit out whatever he was chewing.
Eventually the suspect complied and spit out five plastic bags containing the crack. He told police he didn’t want to go back to prison, which is why he was trying to hide the bags. He subsequently was arrested and the car was impounded.
Dearborn Heights
Police use stun gun on teen for resisting arrest
An 18-year-old Inkster man was arrested for breaching the peace about 3:30 p.m. Oct. 27 near Penn and Beech Daly after he refused to talk to officers about a recent fight at Robichaud High School.
Officers were dispatched to the school after receiving calls about a large fight, but by the time they arrived, the crowd had dispersed. The officers then saw a large group of people walking along Beech Daly and approached them for questioning. While the rest of the group stopped, one of the men kept walking despite the requests of the officers.
He eventually was located by Inkster police, who were assisting in the investigation, but he also refused their commands to stop walking. When officers approached him, he began resisting arrest and stopped only after being
electronically subdued.
Baby food bandit hits pharmacy
At least four cans of baby formula, valued at $112, were stolen about 10:15 a.m. Oct. 27 from CVS/pharmacy, 25762 Van Born.
A store manager told police a white man about 20 years old put the cans inside his coat and then ran for the front door, knocking over displays and nearly running into several customers along the way.
The manager followed the suspect into the parking lot and watched him enter the passenger door of a red sport utility vehicle before speeding off north on Beech Daly.
Lincoln Park
Break-in ends with a bang
A resident reported a suspicious incident about 9 p.m. Monday at Lincoln Park Glass, 3217 Dix.
He said he heard a loud bang and an alarm, then saw a vehicle driving away from the business. When police arrived they found a section of the rear roll-up door near the pavement had been forced apart, allowing entry to the building.
The witness said after he heard the alarm, he saw a white man looking around with a flashlight. The man then exited through the front door, walked around and got into an older, “junky” minivan, drove down the alley and picked up another man before fleeing.
Police said nothing appeared missing, damaged or out of order inside the business. The manager came shortly afterward to lock up.
Would-be thieves caught in the act
Witnesses spotted two men in the 2300 block of Riopelle about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday shining a flashlight into a Chrysler Sebring.
Police broadcast a description of the pair, who were picked up shortly afterward by Allen Park police at Cleveland and Riopelle. One, a 20-year-old resident, admitted to looking into vehicles as he walked north on Riopelle.
Police found a flashlight in his pants pocket and a pair of industrial gloves in the pants pocket other man, 19-year-old from Southgate. Both were arrested for attempted larceny.
The Sebring’s owner said it had been rummaged through, but that nothing was missing.
Melvindale
Man robbed while in jail
A man returned to his trailer in the 18600 block of Dix Wednesday morning to find that it had been damaged.
He said he was released from jail Tuesday after serving 30 days, and that he had stayed overnight at his sister’s house.
The door on the west side of his trailer had been forced open. A window and a screen were damaged on the east side of the trailer.
The man said his television, stereo and DVD players were missing. A neighbor told him two men known as “Rob” and “Tom” had been around the trailer while he was gone, and that the door was open last Sunday.
Carpet soiled by evicted tenants
The owner of apartments above a bar in the 2700 block of Oakwood Boulevard said evicted tenants made a mess of a unit on their way out.
The owner said he had renovated the apartment with new carpet before renting it, and that after evicting the tenants for lack of rent payments and other issues, the carpet was badly soiled and cut in several places.
He said other parts of the apartment also were badly damaged, and that he needed a police report for insurance purposes.
Riverview
Teen changes story of theft to an accident
A 19-year-old resident called police to his apartment in the 14800 block of Brookview about 9:15 a.m. Oct. 23 to report his blue 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt was missing.
He said he asked a 17-year-old friend to drive his car to Taco Bell about 7 p.m. Oct. 22 because he had a suspended license. Upon their return, he said, she left the keys in the vehicle. The two then forgot about them until the next morning, police said.
Police searched for the vehicle in the system and discovered it had been impounded about 11:15 p.m. Oct. 22 after it was crashed and three teenagers were seen fleeing the scene on foot near Ward and North Line. The vehicle had driven off the road, striking a utility pole, chain-link fence, landscaping rocks and kicking up sod before hitting a privacy fence and coming to a stop.
The resident admitted to police about 2:30 p.m. Monday that he had been behind the wheel of the vehicle with the girl and another man in the car when the crash occurred about 11 p.m. the day before. He said he panicked and fled because he didn’t want to go to prison for 10 years, but decided to tell “the truth so I don’t dig a bigger hole.”
No one was hurt during the crash.
Southgate
GPS items go missing
A Global Positioning System unit valued at $300 and a personal training watch valued at $200 were taken overnight Monday from a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado parked in a driveway in the 11000 block of Morningview.
The passenger-side window had been smashed in to gain access.
Vehicles ‘exhausted’
Thieves targeted vehicles’ exhaust systems three times in three days last week.
On Oct. 22, the exhaust system was removed from a 2003 Chevrolet Venture in the 16300 block of Allen Road.
On Monday, a catalytic converter valued at $500 was removed from a vehicle in the 16100 block of Fountain Park Drive.
Also on Monday, a catalytic converter valued at $250 was taken from a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am in the 13500 block of Canterbury.
Taylor
TV, video game unit taken
A 50-inch plasma television, a video game console and DVDs were stolen Oct. 22 from the living room of an apartment in the 15800 block of Park Village Boulevard.
The window screen had been cut and was found lying on the floor.
House robbed while family attends church
A family in the 11200 block of Polk returned from church services late Oct. 23 to find several items stolen from their house.
The back door was undamaged but felt different upon being opened, family members said. It had been left secured by a son about 4:30 p.m.
Missing items included money, coins, hunting items, shoes and jewelry, but police said a complete inventory had not been taken yet.
Family members said a known thief formerly lived in the neighborhood, but did not know if he was involved.
Trenton
Meeting with ex leads to assault
Police were called about 8 p.m. last Sunday to the 3000 block of Charles on word that a man had been assaulted.
A 20-year-old resident was bleeding from cuts above and below his left eye and had suffered a large amount of swelling on his forehead, police said.
He told them his ex-girlfriend had called him on his cell phone about 7:30 p.m. and told him to meet her at Teifer Park, and that they would go to his house to “hang out.”
She was at the park’s softball field when he arrived. A man then emerged from behind the dugout and another from behind the other side, and the two began punching him and knocked him to the ground, kicking him several times.
One took his cell phone, and the two left.
The victim, who recognized only one of his two alleged assailants, refused treatment, saying he didn’t want to pay for the ambulance bill. The victim said he still is on speaking terms with his ex-girlfriend, and that he believes the man he knows assaulted him out of jealousy.
Wyandotte
Liquor bottle discovered beneath tampered security box
Officers were called to the 4000 block of 22nd about 4:15 p.m. Oct. 22 after a resident discovered a suspicious situation.
She told police garbage pickup was early that morning, and that she discovered a bottle of blackberry brandy in the bottom of her empty garbage can, although the woman does not drink at all.
The garbage can was positioned in the backyard near the northwest corner of the house, along the driveway and underneath a utility box. The box usually is bolted shut with a screw, but the screw had been loosened and two wires had been cut and uncapped.
The woman was advised to call her security service provider to have the utility box checked as to whether the wires were supposed to be cut.
Woman leaves burnt toy, feces-covered clothing on lawn
A woman who picked up her daughter from Garfield Elementary School about 2:30 p.m. Oct. 22 returned home to the 200 block of Second to an awkward situation.
A burnt-up toy motorcycle belonging to her daughter was on her front lawn, along with a bag of her daughter’s clothes and a blanket, which both had been covered in feces.
(Compiled by Chris Jackett, J. Patrick Pepper and Tom Tigani.)